The Nursery Arc: The Catfish
by Sivillian
Summary: Here are nursery stories that I believe a queen would tell her kits. Stories posted: 'the Bumbling Bee' and 'Hazelkit and Nettlekit', 'Little Red Runningkit' and 'The Big Bad Fox & the Three Little Hedgehogs', and "The Catfish".
1. The Bumbling Bee

_**The Bumbling Bee**_  
**Part One of the Nursery Series**

* * *

"Treekit, Leafkit, Brackenkit," The silver queen meowed at her kits sternly. She looke at each of them in turn, back straight with her tail wrapped around her paws. "You're all in trouble. You should hvae never snuck out of camp today."

"But it's boring!" Treekit cried.

"We're old enough!" Leafkit protested.

"We were brave!" Brackenkit mewed.

Their mother shook her head. "No, there is plenty of things to do in camp. No, you are only two moons old. No, you were not brave, you were stupid."

The three kits sighed as their mother scolded them. "We just wanted something sweet to eat."

"Something that isn't milk."

"Something you have to be brave to get!"

"If you wanted some honey you should have asked. I would have gladly asked the medicine cat for a honey comb." The queen explained. She wished her kits weren't so impulsive. "Now it's time for rest."

"But we're not tired."

"The stars are hardly even out."

"We can stay up all night!"

The silver-black she-cat sighed. They were driving her crazy. If it weren't for a patrol coming by, they would have gotten stuck in the honey tree and stung by hundreds of bees! It was StarClan's mercy that not a single bee woke up when those little mouse-brains climbed their tree.

Suddenly, a bright idea flashed through the queen's mind. "Who wants to hear a story?"

"Yeah! Tell us the story about the beautiful queen!"

"Tell us the adventure of the impossible kit!"

"Tell us a tale of a brave deputy!"

The queen flicked her tail to the nest. "Only kits in their nest get to hear a story."

The litter stumbled over each other and hopped into the soft mossy nest. Treekit was sitting with her paws on the edge of her nest. Leafkit way laying down with her paws crossed. Brackenkit was sitting down at the edge of the nest that was closest to the nursery wall where it was cold and dark, his green eyes were shining in a very brave manner.

The queen nodded approvingly. She climbed into the nest, forcing her three kits to curl up into her fur. "I'll tell you the tale of the bumbling bee."

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Was he brave?"

She chuckled. "Yes. The bumbling was very brave. Now shush and let me speak."

The all snuggled into her pelt and the moss. They were quiet for the first time all day.

"Once upon a time, there way a tree. In the tree, way high up in the tallest branches, was a hollow filled with golden honey. And then one day a curious kitten left camp. She padded over to a beautiful rose. She looked into its petals and saw a bumbling bee in the middle.

'Bumbling Bee,' she asked, 'can I follow you to your tree?'

'Why would you want to do that?' he buzzed.

'Because I want some honey!' the kit meowed.

'But the honey combs are way up high in the tree.' he warned.

'I can climb! I'm brave!'"

The queen looked down at her kits. Treekit was already falling asleep. Leafkit flicked her tail impatiently. Brackenkit had wide attentive eyes.

"So the Bumbling Bee flew to his tree with Curious Kit following behind. They came upon his tree, and when Curious Kit looked up, the honey hollow was very, very high up. The Bumbling Bee began to fly up to the hollow to drop off his share of honey he made. The Curious Kit climbed up after him.

"She was half-way there. The busy bee looked down at her.

'Are you sure you want to keep going?' he asked. 'It's awfully high up for a kit like you.' he added with a buzz.

'Of course!' she nodded. 'I want some honey.'

So the Bumbling Bee continued to fly and the Curious Kit continued to climb. She hopped up onto the last branch. The hollow was right in front of her. It was filled with golden honey."

The three kits were looking up at her. She purred. This was good.

"The Bumbling Bee stopped her from going in.

'Are you sure you want some honey?'

'Of course I do!'

'But if you reach in an take our honey my friends will sting you.' he warned.

'I want some honey. I won't take very much.'

The Bumbling Bee shrugged. 'Okay, but you can't have more than one honeycomb.'

The bee flew into the hollow and disappeared. The Curious Kit looked around to see if any bee was watching her. It looked like the coast was clear. She reached in a paw and swiped big gobs of honey, much more than what Bumbling Bee said she could have.

Suddenly thousands of honey bees swarmed out of the hollow. Their buzzing was loud and angry and their stingers were shiny and sharp. The Curious Kit screeched as they pierced her body leaving big black pricks in her skin. She tried to run away from the buzzing mass of bees. But when she ran, she fell out of the tree."

"What happened to her?" The three kits asked tiredly.

"She fell. She tumbled and was hitting branches on her way down. And then the Curious Kit hit the ground."

"That's it?"

"Yes. She died."

* * *

From that day on, Treekit, Leafkit, and Brackenkit never left camp to search for honey.

The End.


	2. Hazelkit and Nettlekit

_**Hazelkit and Nettlekit**_  
**Part Two of the Nursery Arc**

* * *

"If you three keep getting in this much trouble I'll make sure your apprentice ceremony is pushed back!" The queen hissed at her three kits. "You know that there's a rogue in the territory. Barkstar announced it yesterday."

"We wanted to find the rogue." The first kit said, smoothing out her dappled pelt.

"We wanted to see what it looked like." The second kit mewed, swiping a nose to flatten her nose fur.

"We wanted to be brave and chase away from ThunderClan!" The third kit meowed, puffing out his chest.

The queen was laying in the nest with her three kits sitting in front of her acting as if they did nothing wrong. She hid her face in her paws. She didn't think that she could get more embarrassed after the whole honey incident. _I thought that I raised them better than this._

Suddenly, a wonderful idea flashed through her mind. She raised her head and beckoned kits. "I have a story to tell you. It's about kits who went out to fight a rogue."

"Oh, cool."

"Sounds good!"

"Were they brave?"

The mother sighed through her nose. "Well, Treekit, Leafkit, Brackenkit. I'll tell you the story if you get in the nest."

The three kittens climbed into the mossy nest and snuggled up to their mother. This would be a better story than last time! For the first time in a long while they stopped talking. It seemed like stories ere the only thing that taught these kits a lesson.

"Okay, well, one day there was an old she-cat living in our territory. And on that same day two kits snuck out of camp. Their names were Hazelkit and Nettlekit. Just like you three, they left camp. They wanted to explore the forest. Unlike you, they didn't know there was a rogue.

"The kits were afraid of losing their way back to camp, so they left a trail of seeds and berries as they padded away from camp." The kit's mother looked down. The three little scraps were staring at her with avid interest. Satisfied, she continued. "They came upon a rabbit burrow in the middle of clearing. Tasty prey scents wafted from the den. They were so hungry that they approached the burrow.

"They padded in. The walls were lined with fresh-kill. There were rabbits, mice, birds, squirrels, voles, and even a freshly killed eagle."

"That's a lot of prey..." Leafkit whispered, eyes wide.

"Hazelkit and Nettlekit began to eat the prey. From the shadows of the den, an old she-cat rogue approached them, her milky white eyes gleaming.

'Hello, kits,' The long-furred rogue meowed softly. 'My name is Witch. What is yours?'

'I am Hazelkit and this is Nettlekit.' Hazelkit replied." The queen looked down. Her kits looked like they would burst. They wanted to know what will happen to the two stow-aways.

"So Witch let them eat their fill of prey. She blocked off the entrance of the burrow with prickly blackberry tendrils so the kits could not escape. Witch then trapped them both in the back of her den in a mesh of more thorny vines so they could not even walk around.

"Witch kept them there for days, feeding them as much fresh-kill she could hunt. The old rogue wanted to fatten them up so she could eat them."

All three kits squealed and gasped. Even the brave Brackenkit squeaked like a mouse-heart.

"She was going to eat them?!" He mewed, lashing his tail. "That's disgusting!"

"Yes, it is," His mother nodded. She shushe him and continued. "Hazelkit and Nettlekit figured that out. They would stick out the bone of a rabbit out of their thorny entrapment. Witch would feel it, thinking that it was their own legs. So she kept giving them prey, waiting to eat them when they were as fat as a kittypet.

"Then after a half moon, Witch grew impatient. 'I will you eat you fat or lean!' She exclaimed. She took down the bramble and prepared to eat them up. But they dashed out of the way and ran for the exit. Witch was mad and ran after them.

"Hazelkit skidded to a halt. The exit was blocked by thorns. Nettlekit kept running and slipped through them, though his pelt was full of thorns. He ran away leaving his brother in Witch's den. Hazelkit was then eaten by the rogue. The end."

The three kits had horror plastered to their faces. And from that day on, Treekit, Leafkit, and Brackenkit never left camp to find a rogue again.


	3. Little Red Runningkit

**Little Red Runningkit**

**Part Three of the Nursery Series**

* * *

"Treekit, Leafkit, and Brackenkit... I can't believe you did that to my mother!" The queen meowed, astonished that her kits had attacked the frail elder as if she was a plaything. The elder almost died from the shock of the kits leaping at her! "You were supposed to bring her a mouse, not act like she was a fox! What did you do with that prey anyway?"

"We ate it." Treekit replied, eyes wide with faux-innocence.

"We were hungry." Leafkit meowed, licking her muzzle as if to lick up the last bits of prey

"We were acting brave." Brackenkit gave a brisk nod.

"Well you really shouldn't sneak up on cats like that." The queen sighed. "Especially old queens."

"Why?"

"What's so special about elders?"

"They aren't so brave."

The silver-black queen got a good idea. "Let me tell you the story of little red Runningkit. You'll see."

Getting used to stories before resting at night, all three kits hopped into the nest. The queen climbed in after them. She pressed them close to her flank and and sighed. She was running out of ideas.

"One day, there was a small ginger-kit named Runningkit. She was very mean to the elders. On a sunny new-leaf day, she was bringing a vole to the elders. But she stuffed it with yucky things as a trick.

"The elders sniffed the vole. They could smell icky things in it. They got very mad and turned into wolves. They ate up little red Runningkit. The medicine cat had to use herbs to get the elder-wolves to spit her up, but she was all chewed up. That's why you shouldn't be mean to the elders. They get special powers."

From that day, all three kits were very nice to the elders.


	4. Big Bad Fox & the Three Little Hedgehogs

**Big Bad Fox and the Three Little Hedgehogs**

**Part Four of the Nursery Series**

* * *

"I made the best den!" Treekit meowed at her siblings from under a pile grass.

"I made the beautifullest den!" Leafkit declared from under a pile of twigs.

"I made the coolest den!" Brackenkit exclaimed from under a pile of rocks.

They fought over who made the best den. Their arguing rang through camp disturbing the elder's afternoon nap, the other queens kits, and the deputy's patrols.

"Who made the best?" They all asked their mother with frustration.

The queen wanted them to stop being so loud. Obviously Brackenkit made the best den because rocks were strong and sturdy. But the two she-kits would have a fit if she said that.

"I'll just let you three decide." The queen said, sitting down and looking at her kits that hid in piles of things.

"What?"

"Come on!"

"Kittypet."

"I will let you three decide after I tell you the story." Their mother meowed.

The kits exchanged glances. They shifted around to get comfortable inside their piles of grass, twigs, and rocks. The queen laid down and crossed her paws. Hopefully they would stop their bickering. She had a good idea for a story.

"Once upon a time, there were three hedgehog brothers. They didn't like each other very much, so they lived in seperate dens. The first hedgehog lived in a den made of grass."

Treekit smirked at her littermates. Just like the first hog, her little den was made of grass.

"The second lived in a den woven with twigs."

Leafkit purred and lifted her chin up proudly.

"The third had made a den of rocks."

Brackenkit's eyes sparkled.

"But one day, a big bad fox walked through the forest looking for little hedgehogs to eat."

The kits all gasped in surprise.

"He found a den made of grass and he could smell the hedgehog that lived inside. So the fox went up to the den.

'Little hog, little hog, let me in!' The fox demanded.

'Not by the quils of my chinny chin chin!' The young hedgehog squeaked.

'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your den down!' The fox warned.

The hedgehog didn't let him in still. The fox was angry and hungry. So he took in a big gulp of air and blew a strong breeze at the hog's den. It blew away, leaving the hedgehog right in front of the fox."

"I hope he gets away!" Treekit mewed.

"I hope he'll be brave." Brackenkit said.

Leafkit poked her head out of the twigs and puffed air at Treekit. Her little den fell down. The gray she-kit squeaked and ran over to Leafkit's den and squeezed her way in. The two she-kits stared up at their mother from under the twigs.

"The little hedgehog ran away as fast as he could. He hopped and skipped and dodged the fox. Finally, the hog had found his brother's den, the one made of twigs. The two hedgehogs were in the twiggy den hiding from the fox."

Treekit and Leafkit sighed in relief.

"But the fox followed the scent trail. He found the second hedgehogs den of twigs. He walked up to the entrance.

'Little hogs, little hogs, let me in!' The big bad fox demanded.

'Not by the quils of our chinny chin chins!' They squeaked.

'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and blow your den down!'"

The two she-kits' eyes widened with suspense. Treekit dug her tiny claws into the soft earth, and Leafkit scooted deeper into the pile of twigs.

"The two hedgehogs still didn't let the big bad fox in, so the hungry and angry fox took a deep gulp of air and blew their nest down! The two hogs screamed as the fox leaped at them."

"I hope they get away!" All three kits shrieked.

The queen chuckled and flicked her ears as Brackenkit blew a strong breeze at his sisters. The thin twigs tumbled over, leaving the two she-kits running around like scared mice. They ran over to their brother and squeezed their way into the pile of rocks. Brackenkit rolled his eyes.

"Heh. Well the two hedgehogs dodged the fox and scampered deeper into the forest. The big bad fox chased them, chruning up leaves and earth in his wake. Then the two little hogs found their brother's den. It was made out of stones."

Brackenkit lifted his chin proudly. He seemed to know that he had the last den standing because it was the best.

"They ran into the den and all three hogs hid from the fox. But the fox could smell them. He padded over to den and said,

'Little hogs, little hogs, let me in!'

'Not by the quils of our chinny chin chins!' The three squeaked."

The three kits huddled together, fearing what would happen next.

"'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your den down!' The fox warned angrily.

But the hedgehogs refused to let the fox inside the den. So the fox took a deep gulp of air and blew the strongest breeze ever at the hogs and their den."

The three kits wailed and covered their eyes.

"But the den of rocks didn't blow over. The fox blew and blew and then he gave up and went elsewhere in the forest."

"Yay!" The kits cheered.

"Wait, does that mean Brackenkit has the best den?" Treekit asked.

"Yes."

And from that day on, they learned what was easy to knock ovef and what wasn't.

* * *

_A/N: I'm going to use shortened versions of these in my fanfics because I just love them to death, so you all could use them too. :)_

_And you can read more of Treekit and the queen in Amber Fur, my beautiful one-shot :'D_


	5. The Catfish

**The Catfish**

**Part Five of the Nursery Series**

* * *

The silver-black queen gratefully took the kits from the white-and-brown warrior. "Oh, thank you, Cedarfall!" She meowed, wrapping her tail protectively around her drenched kits. "Where did they run off to this time?"

"They fell in the river. RiverClan rescued them and I found them waiting by the border. Thank Mudpool and Ashwhisker." He said in a half-growl, looking down at the mischievous kits with his piercing yellow eyes.

The queen ducked her head embarrassedly. "I'll thank them at the next Gathering."

Cedarfall turned away and padded over to the fresh-kill pile. The embarrassed queen hustled her wet kits back to the nursery.

"What's the big deal?" Treekit meowed, shaking the water from her dappled pet before hopping into their mother's nest.

"We're just a little wet." Leafkit shrugged, licking her damp paws dry.

"We were brave!" Brackenkit sneezed, his brown tabby fur spiking up. "'Scuse me..."

The queen helped the two kits into the nest and she climbed in with them. She would need to speak with the medicine cat if they were catching a cold.

"I'm glad you're all safe." She mewed tiredly.

"Me too!" Sunkit yowled, trotting over to them with his younger sister padding behind him. "The whole camp was looking for you three! Barkstar and W-"

"Shut your mouth, Sunkit." The other queen hissed. "Come back over here."

"But Snowdapple!" The ginger kit whined. "She tells the best stories."

"It's true." Littlekit meowed quietly.

The queen narrowed her eyes at the kits. They tumbled back over to Snowdapple.

The silver-black she-cat shook her head and looked down at her own kits once more. "I'm glad you're all safe."

Treekit, Leafkit, and Brackenkit all sneezed in unison. Too tired and wet to speak, they snuggled into her long fur.

"If those RiverClan cats hadn't found you, why, you would have been eaten by a catfish." She mewed.

"Cool."

"Neat."

"Are catfish brave?"

"Catfish are vicious." The queen shook her head. "Long ago, a bad RiverClan cat fell into the river when the water was icy and he died. The fish picked his bones clean. Then he came back to life as a catfish."

The kits looked up at her in awe. She needed to turn the story around otherwise they would go looking for a catfish.

"He was cursed to be a whiskery fish forever. He had to eat worms."

"Ew!" Treekit stuck out her tongue.

"Nasty!" Leafkit wrinkled her nose.

"Brave." Brackenkit flinched.

"He had to make dirt in the water he breathed in."

The kits seemed to gag.

"He had to stay in the river forever..."

The queen looked down at her litter. They had fallen asleep. The sun was setting outside the nursery, and the Clan was returning from dusk patrols...

"Hello?" Barkstar peeked into the den, his long brown fur catching in the entrance. "How are our kits?"

"They are fine." The queen purred.

"That's good."

* * *

"I don't understand." Treekit mewed.

An empty silence hung in the air.

A painfully quiet break clung in their ears.

"Why are Leafkit and Brackenkit not moving?" The young kit prodded her sister and brother with a tiny paw. "M-mother?"

The queen's heart ached. During the night the two kits had drowned. Though she had dried off their pelts and warmed their bodies, water was still in their lungs. They had drowned in their camp. They had drowned in the nursery. They had drowned in their nest. They had drowned with their mother and sister sleeping right next to him.

Barkstar sat by his mate, gazing sadly at the two lifeless kits and the one kit who was still living. The medicine cat sat by them too.

The medicine cat leaned down into the kit's ear. "This is why you should never leave camp, Treekit."

The gray dappled kit swiped an unsheathed paw at his nose. She dodged past her mother and leapt over the leader. She pushed past the apprentices and tumbled past the warriors. She ran through the tunnel and ran from camp.

"I'm sorry Leafkit! Forgive me, Brackenkit!" She yowled miserably to the sky.

"Treekit!" A familiar voice ran after her.

"Go away, Sunkit." She sniffled.

All of her misadventures flashed through her head as she looked into the ginger tom's blue eyes. She could hear her sister climbing up the honey tree. She could scent her brother's fear as he bravely followed the secnt trail of an unknown rogue. She could hear the resenment in her sister's voice as they sat by the stinky elders.

"Come on." Sunkit nudged her.

Treekit blinked and followed the other kit. They began to play and romp around. They raced towards Fourtrees and dared each other to cross the WindClan border.

Padding away from the moors and back to camp, Treekit forgot about the death of her littermates.

"I smell something." Sunkit said suddenly.

They whipped around.

"Hello, kits."

A brown she-cat and a gray she-cat stood over them.

"My StarClan!" Sunkit yelped as the WindClan medicine cat and deputy stared down at them with dull eyes.


End file.
